All right, then, the newly re-armed Philadelphia Phillies, mired near .500 for several years now, are off and swinging. And after a week, they are at 3-4. This is under .500 by 71 points, though, because they’ve only played seven games. So, there’s plenty of time to improve this figure.
However, the Philadelphia Phillies were supposed to be able to bomb opponents into submission, and they aren’t exactly doing that yet. Very clearly, their pitchers are also still, well, warming up, to be generous.
After a week, it remained to be seen if the Philadelphia Phillies can escape mediocrity.
All teams are being cautious with their starters because of the abbreviated Spring Training. However, aside from flashes, the Phillies hurlers, who could pull the team’s fearsome hitters down to .460 or below, have looked iffy.
And as for the new ’27 Yankees in red pinstripes, their 4.00 runs per game after play against the mighty Marlins April 14 were tied for 18th in MLB, 0.53 runs per game worse than their ’21 pace.
This is not to say that they haven’t hit the ball hard. This was worthy of a detailed article, in fact, on April 10. To the author’s credit, he noted that only one ball hit 103.3 mph or harder that day produced a hit, a home run by Jean Segura in the 4-1 loss to the Athletics.
It’s good to be able to say you hit the ball well if you lose. Nothing like “good passes” to soothe the troubled analytical soul, right?
It’s early days, of course. Twenty-five teams are either 4-3, 3-4, or one digit away from one of those two records as this is typed.
Moreover, there have been some promising signs for the Fightin’ Phillies, who are making all kinds of team cohesion noises to the media.
Probably the most important, but under the radar, have been the quite decent long-relief performances by Nick Nelson and Cristopher Sanchez on April 11 and 12, respectively. Nelson gave up one earned run in four innings (2.80 FIP), and Sanchez gave up one earned run in 2.2 innings (3.05 FIP).
Both looked more effective than any Phillies starter besides Kyle Gibson, the rotation’s number five pitcher, who was brilliant on April 9 (0.19 FIP in seven shutout innings) but is expected to go 11-9 at best this season (consider that a challenge, Kyle).
Philadelphia’s good offensive news is that Nick Castellanos, Jean Segura, and J.T. Realmuto have all started well. The bad news is that Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber have not, particularly. And despite the stirring come-from-behind victory in their first game with the Mets, they’ve had two other games in which they’ve scored one or no runs, and another in which a fine comeback just wasn’t enough because the Mets had built up too large a lead.
However, also encouraging was the fact that true rookie Bryson Stott seemed to be functioning well as a nearly regular utility man, playing third, shortstop, and second base, with a double and three RBI in five of the seven games played. In 21 chances, he had made one error, although some felt another had been given to his first baseman. Better, a second utility man, Johan Camargo, is currently outplaying him.
In their first meeting with the Marlins, in the team’s seventh game, the Phils looked to Gibson for a strong second start. They got three strong innings, and Philadelphia fell, 4-3. Offensively, early laggards Schwarber and Harper woke up a bit, and right-handed catcher Realmuto had a career game with four singles in four at-bats, a stolen base, and a pitch caught behind a left-handed hitter. Still: A loss.
In the four seasons prior to 2022, the Philadelphia Phillies were four games under .500. In one of those seasons, they barely exceeded .500; in another, they hit the figure on the nose.
This past offseason they signed two very expensive players, and one or two games above or below .500 will not cut it with their fans. They are already annoyed, and not just about their dopey, new, and restrictive bags policy for those fans entering their ballpark.